Stuck
by Viva La Reefie
Summary: A variation on a theme. Each chapter is written by a different member of Viva La Reefie and revolves around the theme of being stranded or stuck.
1. Pan

**_Stuck_**

Yuffie wondered bitterly how long she would be stuck in here with her smelly comrade and how many small smiles, beguiling chuckles and longing gazes Vincent would have given to Shelke by the time she got out.

She growled.

She had heard the old cliché many times over and never once questioned the difficultly that a person searching through a pile of hay for a needle was a frustrating and ultimately lost cause. It was common knowledge that such a fine thing as a needle would be swallowed whole and forever lost within the equally fine straw never to be seen again by the eyes of man. That is, of course unless you were a person of great patience and determination. Yuffie had plenty of determination but no patience. Any other time she could have leaned on her companion for that missing factor. Any other time.

With Reeve Tuesti in his current state and rotten mood and extra snarky he wouldn't be of much use. He was tired, hungry and most noticeably covered in a brown mud like substance that reeked something foul.

"I've heard of looking for a needle in a haystack in vain but never a freakin' key!" In a show of her annoyance the ruffled Princess (who didn't look much better than Reeve in her wet clothes with tussled hair; she just smelled better) kicked a clump of the useless hay into the air. A small part of her hoped her tiny tantrum would unveil a small, golden key. No luck.

"This is just great!" she screamed for what seemed to be the millionth time. The frightened chocobos had long since retreated to the back of the stable as far a way from Yuffie as the petrified fowl could manage.

Sitting; no, slouched in defeat Reeve felt the need to remind her that if any of the chocobos went into cardiac arrest due to her fits _he _was not paying for the vet bill. Any emergency chocobo hospitalization would come out of the blaring Ninja's own pocket.

"Oh forget these stupid chickens!" she exclaimed even louder. Turning to face the frightened birds she let out a deranged but impressive 'Wark' that sent the birds into a mini stampede.

"These _chickens _aren't to blame for our current predicament,"Reeve huffed aggravatingly as he narrowly missed being stepped on by large, flat, orange feet. The motion of him standing caused the unpleasant aroma that clung to him to waft through the air.

Pinching her nose in revulsion, an obviously disgusted but amused Yuffie smiled. Reeve didn't share her amusement.

Narrowing his eyes to send her that stuffy professional glare he had perfected, "Our predicament is solely your fault," he tried to remain as dignified as one could when covered in dung.

Baffled by this Yuffie unclenched her nose and challenged, "Oh yeah? How is it **my** fault?"

"Well, for starters," Reeve recounted the hectic day in particular the moments that involved Yuffie. "Who was it that drove the chocobos into a lake causing an unexpected rescue mission?" He took care to file it in his memory that chocobos could in fact not swim, a fact he and Yuffie often argued about. Thanks to Yuffie's immaturity he had one the long standing debate. Also thanks to Yuffie the two of them had to rescue a bunch of barely treading birds from certain drowning.

Sheepishly she grinned. "Okay, maybe that was my fault," she reluctantly admitted. "But whose idea was it to be all gentlemen-ly like and offer to bring the dumb birds back to their stupid stables in the first place?" Not stopping for a breath and certainly not stopping to allow him to speak, "Seriously Tuesti, we could be back at the retort with the _others_." By others, Reeve knew Yuffie meant two people in particular. "We could have let Spike return the dodos."

"If I recall correctly, I never asked you to join me. You were the one so keen on coming along," he felt the need to add how her company had single handedly sabotage what would have been a smooth return of rented birds.

Said birds were now huddled near the front of the stable probably telepathically begging their care taker to let them out and away from the yelling, arm flailing girl and the man that smelled like their feces.

"I only did it because I thought you'd be lonely," she said in her most convincing, cutesy voice.

"You only did it because you thought it would make Vincent jealous," obviously she wasn't convincing enough.

At this Yuffie let out a shrill laugh that could only be equated to what a banshee's scream must sound like. "Wha?" She asked in between her fake giggles, now clutching her sides for extra dramatic effect.

Neither registered the sound of the spooked chocobos frantically clawing at the stable door with sharp talons.

"This whole vacation you've been clinging onto any man in the hopes that you'd catch Valentine with a case of the green eyed monster." Leaning against a pillar he smiled smugly at Yuffie's surprised expression. Surely by now she knew he was an astute observer at even the smallest of things. Yet he had to admit seeing his spy opening flirt with not only Cloud but the married Cid and the burly Barret hadn't exactly been something one could easily miss.

Characteristically Yuffie's cheeks puffed out as she readied herself for one of her ear shattering rebuttals; that simply meant she would without a single moment's rest insult stupid Reeve on his unbelievable nerve and his stupidness stupidity. Stupid.

"I'd choose my words carefully," the pungent man teased her. "I will report back to _him _and let him know what you said," smiling despite himself. "Try not to use words like stupid in your rant, Yuffie. You know Vincent likes someone with a more refined vocabulary." Pausing for a moment he faked a sudden brilliant realization. "Come to think of it, I bet that's why he fancies Shelke! Among other reasons of course."

Reeve Tuesti could be such a jerk. _Seriously. _

Reeve crossed a line and her knew it. The cocky smile he wore told her he didn't care and the mischievous maybe even spiteful shine in his eyes told her he had been waiting a long time to say something of that effect.

After praying to Leviathan for some efficient throwing stars Yuffie remembered Cid's anger management plan Shera had thought up for him. It was simple. Count from ten to one. She doubted it could sooth the rage inside her (and Reeve's presumptuous expression wasn't helping) but it was a worth a try. She really didn't want to be on the 6 o'clock news for killing the commissioner of WRO.

Finally reaching one and seeing nothing around she could chuck at him that would cause significant injury nor wanting to get too close to him in fear her nose would fall off she collapsed on the dirt floor with a sigh and began rummaging through the hay yet again this time deftness.

She heard Reeve shuffle and take a seat as well but didn't bother to look at him until he spoke a few minutes later. "That's useless you know,"he said a matter-of-factly.

Still pissed at him for using her crush for Vincent and envy for Shelke against her she snapped. "Oh yeah? And why would that be Dung Boy?"

Shaking off the feeling that the crude moniker of Dung Boy would become one of Yuffie's favorite taunts, "That chocobo," he gestured towards the smallest golden bird. "Ate it about an hour ago."

Somehow over her reignited yells of disbelief she heard Reeve's lame excuse. "I didn't know it was in the food bowl until it was too late." He didn't bother to explain why he had let her search aimlessly for not just one time, but **twice**.

"This is all your fault," she wined as she buried her face in her hands. Images of Vincent laughing that rare but worthwhile laugh danced in her mind. That wasn't the distressing part. The distressing part was that more than likely Shelke would be the person to garner his soft laugh. And to think this was supposed to be the vacation that Yuffie somehow miraculously made Vincent fall in love or more realistically like with her.

Both like and love, she decided were unrealistic expectations. It didn't matter how many men she pranced around or how many times she told Cloud he had beautiful eyes, Vincent wouldn't see her. He'd already found the companion he wanted-needed in Shelke.

Prying her out of her thoughts of Vincent was the thick, rich voice of another man. The man she had worked for these past several years. The man she wanted to in all one swoop slap across the face angrily, tease mercilessly and secretly scheme with on the best method to bother Cid.

Their's was a complex relationship. "You were the one who threw the key." At times Reeve really was like a child. It seemed as if he almost enjoyed their bickering and took the time to instigate them.

"Yeah, but only because you yelled at me and called me a boob!" Yuffie reminded him crossly.

Narrowing his eyes he corrected in a pompous fashion, "I believe the word I used was dunce."

"Same difference!"

Gesturing towards the still startled birds, "Well you pushed me into a fresh pile of chocobo droppings, let's not forget. Which is much worse than any name I could ever call you." A chocobo suddenly let out a loud 'Wark' as if offend while Reeve mentally retracted his last statement. He could think of worse things to call her but he wouldn't dare say any of them out loud.

"You mentioned Vinne and Shelke!" she said between clenched teeth.

"That was after the chocobo pile."

"Still counts though!" she shrieked indigenously. "It was mean!"

"Just chalk it up as late compensation for the shoving me into excrement." she could hear the smart aleck smile in his voice.

She didn't want too. She really, _really_ didn't. But she did. Damn him and his insufferable child-trapped-in-a-grown-man's-body-that-just-happened-to-be-a-successful-business-man charisma.

She laughed.

That night the hired stable boy didn't come to check on his feathered charges as he normally did. Which if he had, he would have discovered the small group of birds clustered in a corner near an empty water pail and as far away from the crazy woman and the sneering man who frightened the golden creatures so with their odd and often loud ways.

Nor did their friends bother to call the front desk and report a tall, goatee man and short Wutaiianese fire-cracker missing. Tifa joked that the two bickering buddies finally had some sense knocked into them and were off at the Golden Saucer getting hitched with a Cait Sith robot as the ring bearer and a Wonder Square clown in the part of a priest.

It was Cid, however, who poetically said, "I always knew sooner of later they'd get together, damn-sure-did. They're perfect for each other," He leaned dangerously back in his chair taking a drag from his cigarette. "She's a pain in the ass and he's an asshole. Match made in Materia-freakin-Heaven!"

Back in the confines of the stable Yuffie's mind drifted to Vincent for a moment. Naturally an image of Shelke appeared alongside the gunslinger. The girl who once appeared to be no more than a prepubescent child had grown to look like a woman she really was and with such development shatter Yuffie's hope of ever catching Vincent's eye. Still short and delicate looking with gorgeous shoulder length red hair she looked like a doll. An expensive porcelain doll, the type children begged their mothers for and old women collected with pride.

With each day she looked and acted more like Lucrecia. He was tall, dark and mysterious she was short, somber and enigmatic. She didn't want to admit they matched. She didn't want to admit that they looked..._nice_ together.

The image and the thought pinched a sensitive nerve and made the oh-so familiar feeling of jealously rise up in her empty belly. She could have wallowed in this feeling. Wallowed in the thought of knowing while she was stuck in a stuffy stable Vincent was in some room with Shelke growing more enamored with the Lucrecia shell with every passing moment. It was the sudden loud snore that brought her out of her self pity.

Gray eyes rested on Reeve who sat across from her soundly asleep with the occasional snore coming from the tired man.

Yuffie wondered how many bird pellets she could put into the sleeping man's mouth before he either awoke or chocked.

She smiled.

**_SHODAN Pan_**


	2. Mystic

I really, really should've paid attention to those rope-escape lessons. I mean, at the very least, I could've taken a refresher course or something. They do have those for ninjas, ya know. Every now and then, we go back to our Master and toss our weapons around -- just for fun. And it is fun, except, I skipped the last few because Mr. Bossman Reeve likes to be anal and make me work and now I'm tied up again.

And it's all his fault. I think. My head is still kinda foggy, so I'm not really sure who to blame yet.

You wanna know the good part? Huh? Do you? Do you?

I'm tied up to Mr. Bossman Reeve!

Oh, ewwww… Get that perverted thought out of your minds. Right now! There, that's better. Just because you wake up tied to a man doesn't mean anything happened. Oh, quit looking at me like that. It doesn't! For all I know, this was a birthday prank gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Wait. Birthday … Reeve … Oh, yeah! Last night was bossman's birthday! Would you believe he's forty? Yeah, the big four-zero. You couldn't tell it by looking at him, because Reeve is what you call freakin' gorgeous. Seriously; the man has the cutest ass I have ever seen. And have you seen his chest? Heheh, I have. It's all tight and sculpted, and literally glistens when covered in sweat. Yes, I spied on him when he was in the training room. It was so worth it, too.

Okay, okay; I'll get back to now. Sheez, I am twenty-one you know. Let me talk about a man!

And now I'm all depressed because I have yet to have a serious relationship. And by serious, I mean you-know-what. I'm so not spelling it out.

So, where was I in this birthday prank gone wrong? Right, I'm tied to Reeve, who is still passed out by the way, and we're in a boat. Yeah, didn't see that one coming, did you? We're stuck on a boat in the middle of the lake. It's a nice boat, don't get me wrong. It has a carpeted floor, cushioned seats, and a nice-looking steering wheel that is obviously out of reach.

Wait, let me see if I can my foot …

Dammit, can't reach it that way, either. If I wasn't tied to Bossman, I could get us out of here. Just because I don't know how to drive a boat doesn't mean I can't eventually figure it out. We're tied back-to-back, though, and that makes it a lot more difficult.

Wait, what if this was all Reno's fault? EWWWWWW… these ropes are tainted with grossness! He was there at the birthday bash and he had this grin on his face. This evil little grin … Oh, no! He set this up; that horrible little Turk!

A groan echoed behind me and I felt Reeve shift. "Hey, you're waking up," I said with excited glee. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"I hate hangovers."

I craned my neck to look at him. All I could see was his dark hair, that was surprisingly soft and smelled really, really good. "Hey, is that Head and Shoulders?"

He groaned again and sweet Leviathan; his groans sounded sexy. I'm talking really, really sexy. "Yes, it's Head and Shoulders."

"But, you don't have dandruff." I'm serious. There was not one fleck of white in his hair.

"That's the point, Yuffie."

Ah, now the whole commercial made sense to me. Duh. "Hey, you gotta knife or something on you? I can't get out of these ropes."

"What makes you think I have a knife?"

"Letter opener then, Mr. Geek?" Come on, I've seen like, ten million of them hanging around his office. It's a miracle he hasn't pulled an Aerith and gotten stabbed.

Yeah, I know that sounded harsh, but that's how I cope, okay? That, and sobbing like a girl on Cloud's shoulder. Bite me. No, wait. Don't do that; I was partying last night.

"It's not like I can exactly check." He shifted roughly with his arms and sighed. "Remind me to never drink again, Yuffie. Birthday or otherwise."

"I'm not exactly sitting pretty over here, either. Well, I am pretty, but I don't feel pretty."

"Why are we tied up?"

"I dunno."

"Why are on a boat in the middle of a lake?"

"I dunno. I blame Reno."

I felt his hands tense up and I knew Mr. Geeky bossman was thinking about all the different ways he could enact revenge against our renegade redhead. Yes, I felt those warm hands tense up. We are tied back-to-back, you know. If I was one of those girly-girl teeny-boppers, I'd be all blushing and stuff, but I'm not one of those girls, so I'll just let my mind take up residence in the gutter. My brain does that when Reeve's around.

_"Hi, gutter! My seriously gorgeous boss has warm hands and we're completely tied up together."_

_"Hi, Yuffie's brain. Come on down; we've got your usual place all set up for you."_

See? The inner workings of my mind are filled with gutter conversations.

"A knife wouldn't work on this rope," Reeve explained. "These are binders from Cosmo Canyon. Elders trap young couples with them and the rope only releases when certain emotions are confessed."

"RENO! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Me? Pissed? What gives you that idea?

"Yuffie, my ear…"

"Sorry." A swallow caught in my throat. "So, what kind of emotions are we supposed to confess?"

He sighed behind me and I swear, he probably had his thinking face on. "I'm not sure. I don't know how high they set it."

"Why would they even tie us together with it?"

" …"

Oh, no. Horror! Reeve did the whole dotdotdot! I'll ask him later how he knew about Cosmo Canyon culture. Well, he does read more than the average person. Damn, I just answered my own darn question. Well, here it goes on the whole 'emotional confession'.

"Uh … Reeve is a great boss and I really like it when he smiles?" No dice; the rope didn't budge. "Reeve, you are so hot and I totally want to have your baby!" He chuckled at me, but his laugh ended when we both felt the rope shift and loosen it's hold. "Your turn, honey," I teased all cheekily.

He groaned. "Yuffie's friendship is something I treasure."

Nada. "Come on, Bossman; kick it up a notch!" Bam! Oh, I heart that show.

"I like it when Yuffie sits on my desk in those short-shorts she wears."

"Yaaaaay, it loosened again!" We can ignore the fact that my boss is a perv, right? We'll let that slide for now. "Um, seeing Reeve talk to Elena gets me all jealous and shit."

"It does?"

"You're my boss, not hers."

"And I pay attention to you," he added, "unlike a certain man in a red cloak."

"That's just because you're my boss."

"No, it's because I'm in love with you."

The ropes didn't just fall to the deck, they literally disappeared into a fine mist. Seriously, Cosmo Canyon has some pretty mystical magic and crap. "Uh… happy sober birthday, Reeve?" I offered, not even bothering to move away from his back like a normal girl would have.

We've been through this, people. I am not your average ninja. There's a fancy name for us female shadow warriors, but I think ninja is straight and to the point.

"This wasn't how I expected to spend the morning after I turned forty," he said. Bossman sounded so sad when he said it too. That's not right. Aren't men supposed to be all happy when they declare their love for a girl? Especially a girl like me? White Rose of Wutai?

I turned around and rested my chin on his shoulder. "How did you want to spend it?"

Hopefully, he wouldn't say something lame like drinking coffee or doing paperwork. Oh, and let's not forget reading a stuffy mystery while in a great big stupid chair. Blegh. The weather is nice though; with a bright sun and soft breeze. Ultra-romantic.

… Not that I'm into that or anything.

Okay, okay. You'd think I'd be all freaked out that my BOSS of all people just dropped the L-word in extremely weird circumstances. Hello? This is me we're talking about. Frankly, I'm kinda giddy.

"Spending it with you, I can handle," he answered. "Tied up and dropped in the middle of a lake I could've done without."

"We're not tied up anymore."

Okay, Reeve's got some moves or something. One minute I'm resting against his nice shoulder and the next I'm plopped in his lap. Working on robots must've done wonders for his hands. Seriously. "You want to have my children?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Hey, it got us free from the damn ropes." Score one for me.

"We'd still be tied up if everything we said was a lie."

Damn. Score one for him.

"Yuffie."

"Are you really in love with me, Reeve?"

"Do you really want to have my children?"

He looked at me, I looked at him. He gave this soft smile and I blushed all pathetic-like.

"I can't lie to a girl."

"Your spawn will be fun."

See, we kinda answered at the same time there and normally that's pretty cool, but now things were getting awkward. Awkward as in 'so quiet all we could hear was each other's breath' awkward. And the gentle waves. Gotta love those gentle waves.

I'm pretty sure he made the first move, because I was completely still (shocker for me, I know) when I found myself lost in this sticky-sweet kiss that tasted slightly of alcohol and I think a sleeping potion. Oh, so that's how Reno probably knocked us out.

Eh, I'll enact revenge later. Right now, Reeve's kiss has me occupied.

Yeah, gutter? Go ahead and reserve my normal seat. I think I'm going to be here for quite awhile.

**MysticSpiritus**


	3. Bonesy

Reeve looked slightly to his right, disoriented. He couldn't figure out what was going on or why his head hurt so much. White hot pain seared down his neck, slamming its way down his right side. Tears welled in his eyes as he screwed them shut, a pained groan wrenching its way out of his throat.

"Reeve," a soft voice broke through the haze of his agony. "Reeve," it sounded again, more urgent. He opened his mouth to reply, but could only manage a miserable gurgle. "_Reeve_," it reached a squeaky crescendo, sounding desperate. "Gaia, _please_! Reeve!"

"Yu…" he managed.

"Thank Leviathan," Yuffie breathed, her relief almost tangible. "Are you okay?"

"Where?" he queried weakly, his voice confused.

"We're in the car," she explained gently.

"Car?" he repeated.

"It was snowing," she continued, her voice scratchy. If Reeve had been in a better state of mind, he would have noticed how close she was to crying. "You hit a patch of ice. We're in a ditch."

"Head," he mumbled.

"You hit your head?" she prompted.

"White," was his reply.

"I don't understand," her voice was gentle, but there was a sense of urgency now since he wasn't making sense.

"Sky?" he inquired confusedly.

"Reeve, I don't understand," she told him, a sense of desperation creeping into her tone. "You hit your head? What about the sky?"

"Where?" he asked.

"Where? Where what?"

"Sky?" he asked again, trying to get his message across. She scrunched up her face in confusion – maybe he was injured worse than she'd originally thought.

"Where sky?" he finally managed.

"Where is the sky?" she repeated, still not understanding. "Where it normally is! You aren't making sense Reeve!"

"Only," he paused, groaning. "White. Where sky?" She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he wanted to know when it suddenly clicked.

"Upside down!" she blurted out. He grunted his confusion. "We flipped upside down," she explained. "You can't see the sky because the car is upside down. You're hanging from your seatbelt."

"Cold," he mentioned.

"It's January," she explained. "There's a foot of snow on the ground – that's why it's all white."

"Hurt?" he asked her. She glanced at the large chuck of windshield glass that pinned her to the passenger side foothold. She'd fallen on it when her seatbelt had snapped in the crash.

"I'm fine," she assured him, crossing her fingers to excuse the lie. "I'm not hurt. But what about you? Where does it hurt?"

"Head," he answered. "Side." She cursed inwardly; a head injury could mean trouble especially considering he could barely manage to speak. "Tired." Shit.

"You have to stay awake," she informed him distractedly, looking around to locate her phone. She couldn't stop the small gasp when she jarred the wound in her leg.

"Okay?" he asked groggily.

"I'm fine," she told him through gritted teeth. She forced the pain back, ignoring the sudden and overwhelming nausea that threatened to overtake her. She had to find that phone. Looking beneath her, she caught sight of the device beneath her, sitting on what normally would have been the car's ceiling. It was impossible to reach without leaning into the glass. She'd never wanted to cry more. "Are you okay?"

"Tired," he mumbled again. "Sleep."

"No!" she nearly screamed. He opened an eye and glanced at her through his peripheral vision. Softening her tone, she continued, "You have to stay awake. You hit your head."

"Wet," he slurred, causing her to jerk her head in his direction.

"What?"

"Wet," he repeated.

"What is wet? What do you mean?"

"Feel wet," he clarified.

"What? " she demanded. "What feels wet?"

"Sitting," he explained, his voice tired. "Wet."

"Where you're sitting is wet? " She could only pray that what he was sitting in was melted snow. She dreaded to think of the alternative. "Is it cold?"

"Warm," he contradicted. Her heart sunk. He was bleeding.

"How wet is it?" she wanted to know.

"Wet," was the helpful reply. She wished she could move her torso to look over at him, but she didn't dare with the glass piercing her side. "Tired."

"Stay awake Nerd Boy!" she demanded.

"Hard," he admitted.

"I know, Reeve. Trust me, I know. But you've got to stay awake," she told him. "Do you remember the time we made Reno think his office was haunted?" She had to keep him from falling asleep.

"Moron," he acknowledged.

"I think the la pièce de résistance was getting Rude to dress like a zombie," she reminisced. He made a noise that could have been a laugh if the circumstances had been different.

"Brains," he joked. Yuffie smiled. Perhaps this was a sign that he would be okay. She had to admit she was scared. She couldn't move enough to reach her phone and they were both bleeding. It was all she could do to keep from vomiting all over herself. And outside, the sky was darkening. She knew that once the sun went down it was going to get cold. It was possible that if they weren't found soon…

"How did you manage to get Rude to dress like that anyway?" she asked.

"Blackmail," was the reply.

"You must have had some pretty awesome dirt to get Rude of all people to do something like that," she said, almost conversationally.

"_Thriller_," he said. "Caught him."

"_Thriller_ like Michael Jackson _Thriller_?" she queried.

"Same," he confirmed.

"You caught **Rude** dancing to _Thriller_?"

"Singing too," he clarified. She giggled madly for a second at the thought of the stoic martial artist even _listening_ to Michael Jackson, much less dancing and singing along.

"I suppose it wasn't that much of a stretch to get him to dress like a zombie considering what he apparently listens to," she laughed.

"Mmm," he murmured his agreement. "Yuffie?"

"Yeah?"

"Get out?" he asked.

"Can I get out?" He made an affirmative noise. "No. I'm pinned by some glass."

"Phone?" he tried.

"Unless my arm grows another foot in the next hour or so, no," she denied. He made a sound in the back of his throat. "We're stuck," she told him quietly.

"Try?" he suggested.

"Try what?"

"Out?"

"The glass is through my side," she informed him. "I'm afraid if I move too much I could do some real damage."

"Cold," he murmured.

"So am I," she whispered back, screwing her eyes shut and saying a small prayer to Leviathan that things would be okay. Opening her eyes, she looked to the right and realized that the sun was almost completely gone.

He let out a sudden cough that made Yuffie cringe. It didn't sound good. He continued coughing, moaning in pain in between. Yuffie was shocked as she felt something wet hit her arm. Looking down, she was horrified to find a spattering of red liquid. She turned her head toward him.

"Oh Gaia," she breathed, knowing that things had just turned from worse to catastrophic. Reeve needed immediate medical attention and she wasn't sure it was going to come.

"Yuffie," he pushed through the pain. "Tired."

"Reeve," she choked out, no longer able to hide the panic that was quickly overwhelming her.

"S'okay," he told her.

"Reeve, no," she implored.

"Ready," he replied, shifting slightly with a pained groan.

"No, Reeve. Don't you give up," her voice was gaining in pitch as she lost her battle with tears. "Don't you dare."

"No cry," he managed before another bout of coughing overtook him. She openly wept, unable to keep it in.

"Reeve," she sobbed.

"Live," he rasped. A few moments more and then nothing.

"Reeve?" she whispered. Nothing. "Reeve?" she tried again a little louder. Still nothing. "_Reeve?" _Her voice rang out loudly against the silence coming from Reeve as the realization set in. Her sobs lasted several minutes, wracking her body. Each gut-wrenching wail jarred the wound in her side, making the pain that much more real. She attempted to reach over and grab his hand, but couldn't reach from her position.

The sudden snapping of Reeve's seatbelt caused her to scream in surprise as his broken and bleeding body lurched forward, landing haphazardly on what had formerly been the roof of the car. "Reeve," she squeaked out through her tears, her shoulders shaking in her grief.

Outside the remains of the vehicle, a soft snow began to fall, quickly collecting on the car's undercarriage. Yuffie shivered as a blistery winter wind blew in from the outside, kissing her bare arms. She continued to cry until there were no more tears left. She was numb – both from the cold and from the torment of her situation. The blackness that surrounded her wormed its way into her heart and for the first time in her life, she let it. Defeat left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she couldn't bring herself to care; Reeve was dead. She could only pray that Leviathan would take her soon.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, waiting for something to happen. She'd long since stopped feeling anything – even the glass in her side was no longer painful. She couldn't remember ever being so cold; her lips were blue and she'd gone beyond the point of shivering. Shutting her eyes, she allowed the numb feeling to engulf her. Everything seemed to melt away as the last vestige of her strength gave way to an eternal sleep.


	4. Lynn

Her eyes are everywhere except on his face, flitting about from the ground to her hands and then to the sky and the big grey clouds suspended in it that were crying their tears mercilessly upon the sodden ground beneath them.

"Looks like we're stranded," she says, shrugging one shoulder up near her face, looking up at him through long dark eyelashes. It's a pitiful expression, he decides, abstractly lifting a hand to push a wet lock of hair behind his ear; one that a child might give a guardian when she has done something wrong. It looks natural on her, but it doesn't look good.

He clucks his tongue and looks away; away to the shop-keeps across the street from their park who are scurrying about to take their goods inside. It's raining just enough to be unpleasant, and although he knows it won't kill him, there is something satisfying to be said for standing beneath the sheltering arms of a tree, looking out at the bleakness of the world from a safe place.

"Wow, someone must have really pissed Leviathan off," she remarks grimly. He can barely hear her, because the rain on their leafy rooftop makes sounds like a billion marbles being dropped on hard-wood flooring, but he can tell by the look on her face that she isn't pleased.

"It's not so bad," he offers. He's not sure why, but he believes it's true. He's got a thousand and one things he should be doing: contracts, proposals, meetings and a stack of paperwork but the barrier of shelter around the giant oak gives him an excuse to stay, if even for just a little while.

* * *

She can't argue with him on that one, and what a pity, for how she loves to oppose him; to pester him with arguments until his brow gets all scrunched up and he gives up with an exasperated sigh, carding his hand through his hair.

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" she asks, but she's hoping he doesn't have an affirmative answer. Moments like these are always interrupted by crises, be they small or large, or even just the progression of the day. A conversation in the elevator is ended when the doors slide open. A glance across the hallway ceases when you round a corner. She takes her time in looking at him, because she gets the feeling, now that she has him in one place and he isn't bustling about, that she never actually sees him standing still. Even so, she knows he'll just be an ass if he can't get back to the office in time to put in thirty billion more over-time hours he's not getting paid for.

He doesn't answer right away, but sticks his hands in his pockets. His keys jingle. "Yeah I do."

Disappointed for a reason she's not sure of, she frowns. "You could call for a car."

She knows he has his PSH in his pocket, because she felt it when she skimmed his body for materia as they were walking through the park. He hadn't noticed: they never notice.

"I don't have my phone on me."

She smirks and subconsciously shoves her own hands in her jacket pockets. Her cell bumps her right hand as her left curls around his shield materia. "Neither do I."

* * *

He wonders why he lied, and when he can't find the answer, he decides he simply likes the rain, even though the sky is bleak and the he hates the feeling of a damp coat weighing down his already tired shoulders.

"You work too much."

He looks at her; eyes shifting from up in the branches where he had been watching the leaves rustle with every little breeze and plunk of raindrops to her face. Her eyes are wide and innocent, and it makes him nervous, but he can't quite pinpoint why.

"No I don't," he replies, defensively, although he knows that part of the reason he hasn't called for a car yet, or at least dashed into civilization is because he doesn't want to have to talk to anyone, read anything, or make any damn decisions.

"You do too." She's steadfast, as usual, in her opinion. "You're always so wrapped up in things at work you can't see the important things staring you right in the face."

He wonders what those things are, and wonders, considering he has no answer for that, if she's right. All he knows is the WRO. He wakes up every morning, drinks coffee from the same mug, gets into the same car and drives to the same building. Every morning, he waves to Yuffie on the way into his office, and from there the day commences with as many fuck ups and instances of incompetency that a man can possibly handle.

He's trapped, he realizes, and he starts to panic. He knew he wanted to give back to the planet after everything that ShinRa had waged against it, but it was equally unnatural for a man to ignore life for such a cause.

He signs papers, develops proposals, attends meetings and filters through stacks of paperwork day in and day out. His only saving grace is the glimmer of light he finds when things work out; when policies are implemented to better public safety and health; when new programs are introduced to further develop communities; when at the end of the day, his friends are always there, whether the whole system failed or if everything was a success.

The light is in her eyes when at exactly five o'clock she slides into his office, demanding he take a break; call it a day, even when she knows he'll probably go straight back to the office once their walk in the park is over. It's in that hour and half or so that he smiles and laughs and forgets about the weight of the world standing on his shoulders.

"I do see them," he says finally, softly, voice barely audible over the patter of rain.

She tilts her head, and he smiles, leaning back against the tree.

"The important things-- I do see them," he repeats; a whisper directed to the canopy above him and the pouring rain from the heavens. He thanks Leviathan and Shiva and Ifrit and whoever else he can think of for the rain; and for the excuse of standing under the sheltering arms of an oak tree with his source of light on this gloomy day.

His brow dents went he feels a fist clench around the front of his coat, and he looks down to see Yuffie's got him by the collar, and she doesn't look pleased. "How the hell can you see them, when you're not looking in the right damn spot!?"

He thinks the wetness on her cheek tastes a little too salty to be rainwater, but he kisses it away anyway, and then the drops on her nose.

Her hair is damp under his hand as he smoothes it back, out of her face. "I see you," he says; he promises. She doesn't truly believe him until his lips are touching hers, and her fingers slowly release their hold on his coat.

* * *

The breeze is chilly and the rain is still plummeting to the ground.

It's not so bad.


	5. MakotoJinx

Yuffie sighed impatiently; the park bench she was sitting on was slightly damp. Her thighs were getting cold. Reeve was supposed to meet her in the park half an hour ago. But it wasn't like she didn't expect him to be late, after all that was why she asked him to meet her here.

"Hey Yuffs, sorry I'm late, I had so much work to do."

"I know." She whispered softly. It was now or never. If she didn't do it, one day he would drop dead from all of the stress. Reeve was addicted to work, and Leviathan have it, this was an intervention!

"Come on Yuffie, don't sound like that. I made time for you." She snorted, the only person who could drag Reeve away from work was her. She'd been looking after his health since she joined the WRO. Reeve had a serious problem.

"Yeah, time. Tell me Reeve, how much time did you put aside for me? Ten, twenty minutes? You want to talk to me, see what I want, and then head back to that stupid office of yours that's freaking sucking the life out of you! Do you know how thin you are? How pale you look? I've been slipping vitamins in your coffee for almost a year!

"Yuffie, what?" He then shook his shaggy mane and started laughing. "Oh, I see, you're worried about me. Well, let me get back to work. How about this, I'll push some things to tomorrow and we'll go out to eat tonight. You can even bring home the leftovers, since I know you probably don't have anything in that dinky little fridge of yours in your apartment."

"No, then you'll just be working late tomorrow. I'm sorry Reeve. I'll come back when the work day is over." She then leaned over and hugged him sincerely. Over the tiny regretful sigh she made, Reeve heard a click. A very familiar click. The handcuff was cold against his wrist.

"Yuffie." He said in a very dangerous voice. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"It's an intervention Reeve. I think going a couple hours without doing paperwork will drive you insane. Then you'll go through withdrawal, and just when you figure out how pathetic your life is. You will realize you have a very dangerous addiction. Hopefully you'll contemplate your life and change it. Please, for me." With that she reached into his breast pocket and took his cell phone. With his free hand he could access his computer through his phone.

"Yuffie wait!"

"No, I'm sorry."

"At least un-tuck the back of my shirt, it's pulling on my back." His top spy smiled, happy to do a favor for a friend. That's when the second click was heard. Yuffie's wide eyes met Reeve's vengeful grin. There was no way he was going to be stuck alone to this awful bench. They were both stuck.

With his free hand Reeve put his shoulder around Yuffie's scantily clad body and pulled her to him. They were both cuffed and sitting on the bench.

"Yuffie, dear, darling Yuffie." He was holding her tight enough to be uncomfortable. "Give me the key."

"No way! I wouldn't give it to you even if I did have it." She felt him stiffen against her.

"You mean to tell me, you didn't bring the key?"

"I didn't want to give in to temptation. If I didn't bring the key, I couldn't free you. All I had to do was work up the courage to cuff you."

"What did you mean you didn't bring the freaking key! He shouted. "You idiot, there's meetings for things like these! All you had to do was tell me and I would have went!"

"No, those meetings happen at night. When you're off from work. They wouldn't work for you. I know you Reeve. This was the only way. I put a lot of thought into this!"

"A lot of thought! That shows how smart you are you ignorant child! You have no idea what you've done!"

Yuffie paused, his comments hurt. Maybe it was a bad idea.

"Fine, give me the keys to your cuffs and I'll go to my office, grab the key, and come free you."

"No, I don't trust you. Leaving me here was your original plan all along."

"No, Reeve. I'm done, I promise I'll come back." She had turned her back to him in defeat. Reeve saw her shoulders shake. He had made her cry. Suddenly, his anger left him. What was missing one day's worth of work.

"Yuffie, I'm sorry. I was only mad at myself. I don't carry my key with me. It's at my house. I haven't had to use handcuffs in years." He tried to pull her back towards him.

"Stop it Reeve!"

"Yuffie come here. I'm sorry."

"Don't touch me! I said I'm sorry ok! It was stupid, I get it." Her outcry made her even more upset. Finally she gave in to the tears and the sobs soon followed. Her boss thought of her as only a stupid child.

"Yuffie, please! I didn't mean those words. You were right, you do know me. This is the only way to help me." He scooped the ninja in his lap as far as his handcuffed arm would allow him. At least Yuffie's handcuff wasn't at an awkward angle. He would have cursed himself if he had caused her anymore pain. He blew his hair out of his eyes as a raindrop fell on his forehead. What a way to be stuck. But all he could think about was mending things with Yuffie.

She had always been by his side and in a rash moment, he had hurt her on purpose. He knew calling her a child would hurt her more than anything. Avalanche had always picked on her about her young age.

"Shut up Reeve. The reason we're here is because of you. Apology accepted, I know you were just scared to be away from your work and that ticked you off."

"Fine Yuffie, I promise I'll take more breaks." He opened up his jacket to tuck her more securely to him. It was a shelter to keep the rain off of her.

"Breaks aren't enough. You need a five-day workweek, not seven. There's a reason why we have weekends you know'"

"No, Saturday is when I get a lot of work done."

"No, Saturday is when you need to be relaxing. Have you realized you're an alcoholic, Leviathan Reeve; you're just as bad as those Turks. In your free time, you're so stressed from work, you drink yourself into a stupor just to escape from it all." Reeve paused at her wise words. It dawned on him in a horrible pull of his stomach. He really had become an alcoholic, all because of his work.

"Ok, I'll take the weekends off."

"And you'll leave at five when all the other employees leave."

"No, I'll cut it back to eight o' clock."

"That's too later, by then you've missed dinner."

"Seven then."

"Sorry, that's still too late. I'll give you until six o' clock, and no coming in at Oh god O'clock in the morning just to counter balance it. It's part of your intervention Reeve, I'm trying to save you."

"All right, the latest I'll stay is six and I'll even promise to take my lunch break." The ninja smiled. Maybe she had helped him more by staying with him. It helped that she could make herself cry on demand. It was a valuable skill.

Suddenly, it seemed a huge boulder had been lifted from Reeve's shoulders. He could relax if he wanted to. He could stay on his couch all Saturday, watching movies. He slouched in relief. Wow, his life really was too much for him to survive and it took a ninja handcuffing him to a bench on a rainy day to realize it.

A small beeping noise was heard from Yuffie's pocket. His phone was dying. Yuffie scrambled to pull it out. She yanked it open and dialed a number. It rang twice.

"Shut Reno and listen. Reeve and I are handcuffed to the brown park bench in the park. The key is in my office in my pencil holder. There are three booby traps to unset before you get to my desk, so listen closely. The first one is potentially fatal, so you're going to have to-" Beep. The phone shut off.

"What are you doing? Quick, call him back on your phone!" Reeve panicked.

"Yeah, um mine died this morning. You should charge yours more often you know? That's a bad habit Reeve."

The rain started to come down harder. Leviathan had a wicked sense of humor.

"We'll, I guess we're stuck."

"Yeah." The ninja laughed nervously.

"Yuffie?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I'm stuck with you."


	6. Valentine'sNinja

He'd never been a fan of the ocean. He'd grown up as a city boy, in the middle of a throbbing metropolis and far away from nature. He had not learned how to swim until he had been well past his twenties. That was how he found himself alive and not sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Swimming was also how he had worked his body into something to be envied, especially at his age. Reeve coughed as the waves suddenly rose over his head and nearly dragged him under, regardless of the fact that he knew how to swim. He forced himself to stay afloat, even when his arms began to feel heavy.

How had it all happened? He had fractured memories of flying in a helicopter, training Yuffie and trying to get her to forget her airsickness, when they had flown right into a storm over the ocean as they traveled towards Wutai. They had been about thirty minutes away when the storm—close to a hurricane, Reeve mused—had sent them barreling right into the sea. Speaking of…

"Yuffie?!" he called, trying to get his eyes to find the wreckage of the helicopter. Good Gods! What if she had gone down with the helicopter? "Yuffie!" he called again, looking around. His heart nearly dropped to the floor of the raging waters he was floating in when he saw her a distance away, laying across a piece of helicopter, staying afloat.

He began to swim towards her, forcing his arms and legs to propel him forward. When he reached her, he realized that she was unconscious. He cupped her cheek and called to her to wake up, but it was no use. He let out a grunt when her body began to sink further into the water and he slipped and arm around her to keep her from drowning. "Don't do this, Yuffie. You are not meant to die at age twenty-one by drowning."

Keeping her afloat, Reeve managed to swallow a few liters of ocean water as the waves threw them about. He grunted and hoped that the helicopters beacon had been activated as soon as it had gone down. Now it was only a matter of surviving the waves and the storm.

Unfortunately, the storm seemed to get worse and in panic, Reeve and an unconscious Yuffie were pulled underwater. He tried to force them back up frantically but the currents were dragging them even further down. Reeve realized that if they died, it would be his fault for wearing his fancy overcoat. It was what had been weighing him down from the beginning. But he didn't release Yuffie, even with the force of the waves.

Just as he was beginning to feel his oxygen running out, he and Yuffie broke the surface and Reeve's ears popped when all he heard was silence, except for the sound of the waves hitting the rocks of the underwater cave they had risen into. He stared around wildly, taking in their surroundings and making sure that there were no other imminent dangers before he swam towards the rocks that had formed some very primitive stairs. He tried his best to carry Yuffie in his arms, but even with her light weight, he could feel the exhaustion creeping in and it made her feel heavier than she was.

Setting her down on the floor of the dark cave, clear of water, Reeve took a look at Yuffie and with a start realized that she wasn't breathing. Though there was no actual light, the water was casting a light reflection inside of the cave and he had failed to see Yuffie's chest rise and fall. "Don't you dare drown on me, Yuffie!" he yelled, promptly blowing air into her mouth before pumping her chest.

He did so two more times before she coughed up a geyser of water and hacked out ragged breaths as he turned her onto her side. "Yuffie?" he asked, relief and worry tainting his tone. "Can you hear me?"

"Remind me… to never… fly with you… again," she said between coughs. "Head hurts," she muttered after a moment.

Reeve couldn't contain his happiness at hearing her voice and knowing that she was okay; he had to refrain from pulling her into his arms in a hug. What would he have done if she had died on him? How would he had faced her father… Vincent… Tifa? He checked her head and found a wound on the left side of her crown. He prodded the lesion gently and heard her whine in pain and flinch away from him.

"I have to take care of that, Yuffie!" he said quickly.

"With what? Your magical healing powers?" Yuffie asked snidely. "I'm happy you saved my life and all, but it still hurts like hell!"

Reeve let out a sigh and reached for one of the hidden pockets in his blue coat. he produced a shiny green orb and smiled when Yuffie's eyes lit up, even though she still looked dazed and in pain. "You may have a concussion, but the heal materia should take care of that. You'll sleep for a while afterward."

Yuffie nodded and winced again. "Wait," she exclaimed as he began to raise the materia over her head. "Where are we?"

Reeve shook his head grimly. "I don't know. We were a few miles away from Wutai when we were hit by the storm. It dragged us under and into this cave. I have no idea where," he admitted.

"I… I think I may know where we are, but I can't think about it right now," she murmured, frowning.

"Later," Reeve assured her. "I want you to get healed first. We'll figure out what to do later."

Yuffie nodded and smiled despite their situation. "We'll be okay, Reeve. Thanks for saving my life." Even as she finished speaking, Reeve used the heal materia to fix up her wound and then watched in silence as her eyes slipped shut slowly. He was glad that he'd carried some materia orbs with him instead of keeping them in his briefcase. The inside of his coat was the only place Yuffie hadn't gone into. It was a miracle that she actually had _some_ boundaries.

Reeve smiled gently and smoothed a hand over her youthful face, wondering about the feeling in his chest that blossomed every time he laid eyes on her. It made him ashamed that he felt that way for someone so much younger than himself, but the heart never did what the brain dictated it to do. He stood, stooping a little so that he didn't hit his head on the low ceiling of the cave. He searched the small cave and found pieces of very old wood towards the back of the cave that made Reeve wonder who had been stranded there and how long ago.

Setting the wood near Yuffie, he pulled a red orb from his coat and lit the wood for a fire. They would more than likely have to wait about a day for someone to get a search party to find them, depending on the storm. Once the water stopped sloshing so wildly inside of the cave, he would venture out and see if there was anyone searching for them nearby.

Setting out his coat to dry first, Reeve debated on what to do next. They had no food, no dry clothing, and no way of communicating with the outside world… his cell phone unfortunately had not been water proof. Hmm… there was an a idea for a new invention. _Build a waterproof cell phone… _Reeve shook his head. Now was not the best time to be thinking about inventions.

Moving towards Yuffie, he pulled off her boots and stockings, setting them to dry by the fire. He continued to think about his next course of action. They had no blankets, and removing clothing from Yuffie's body could prove detrimental to his health, but if he didn't, she would die of hypothermia. He would just have to… warm her up with his own body and try to act like a gentleman. Sighing, he just sat there for a long moment, his fingers clenching and unclenching right above her shorts.

Closing his eyes, he removed her clothing until she was down to her underwear. It was a good thing that she was wearing nothing too revealing, but it still made him a little batty, especially when it came time to remove his own clothing. He set it all near the fire, spread out so that it could dry and then moved towards Yuffie, who had a peaceful, serene expression on her face, even though her skin was cold and she had begun to shiver.

Reeve stretched out behind her and grimaced as the hard rocky floor dug into his side and arm. Pulling Yuffie against him, he managed to keep her and his own important body parts at a distance. Instead, he focused on unsexy thoughts like… Cid in a leotard and high heels. Ugh… now that was certainly a very disturbing image, Reeve realized as he rubbed Yuffie's arms to get some warmth back into her limbs.

Then there was Cloud dressed like a woman… he chuckled darkly at the thought. According to both Yuffie and Tifa, that had been a true occurrence. Reeve wondered what the swordsman would have to say about that. Reeve smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and unconsciously kept up his rubbing.

Unwillingly, his brain provided him a very pretty image of Yuffie on the evening of her twenty-first birthday. She had worn a Kimono that had been passed down to her from her mother. The white silk with silver embroidery had made her look like the princess that Godo Kisaragi wanted her to be. He was starting to shiver himself, but he could feel Yuffie beginning to warm. It was a good thing that the cave was managing to hold the heat around them coming from the fire.

With the image of Yuffie's smile on his mind, Reeve fell into an exhausted sleep, a smile on his own face.

……

Yuffie couldn't remember ever sleeping so good, but feeling so sore at the same time. She felt warm and cuddled, but there was something that felt like stone digging into her bare back. Grumbling about being a cheap-ass father and not getting her a proper mattress to sleep in, she attempted to roll over but was hampered by a warm arm wrapped around her waist.

Her eyes opened in alarm and she nearly shrieked when she realized that she was nearly naked. She let out a very loud curse that echoed around the cave as she sat up and noticed that Reeve was the one next to her and that he was very much in the same state as she was. "Reeve!" she yelled, slapping a hand over his chest, not caring if she caused him pain.

Reeve grunted and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "dirty martini and Cait Sith." His eyes then settled on Yuffie and he sat up, noticing the way she was glaring at him. "…Yuffie?"

"_Why_ am I _naked _Reeve? Eww… did you take advantage of me last night?" she asked quickly, her cheeks burning with a blush. The thought wasn't disgusting at all, but she wasn't about to tell him that. He'd get the wrong idea and then her reputation of the _White Rose_ would be tarnished!

Reeve was distracted by her blush and the fact that she was still in her underwear and bra. Yuffie followed his line of sight and there was a resounding smack when her hand connected with his face.

"You dirty old man!" she yelled, scrambling to pull on the closest article of clothing she could find, which happened to be his long, blue coat. "Why am I naked, Reeve?" Yuffie asked him angrily.

"Yuffie, first off, you're not naked," Reeve hissed, rubbing his cheek gingerly.

"Fine… why am I in my underwear?" Yuffie asked quickly, forcing the question out. She was mostly embarrassed with the fact that she had been openly ogling Reeve's chest herself. She hadn't even been aware that he was _built. _Who knew with the layers of clothing he was always wearing.

Reeve moved to gather his pants and shirt and was oblivious to the fact that he was giving Yuffie a nice view of his back side. He pulled on his wrinkled clothing and sat back down to start the fire again, adding another piece of the old wood in. Sighing he shook his head. "I didn't want you to die of hypothermia, Yuffie. That is why I removed your clothing… so that it could dry out by the fire. I left our undergarments on for modesty sake," he replied calmly.

Yuffie watched him suspiciously from where she was curled up by rocky wall, wrapped up completely in his coat. "Did you look?"

"W-what?" Reeve asked in bewilderment.

"_Did you look?"_ she asked him, repeating her question with an annoyed look on her face.

"Of course not," Reeve mumbled, letting out an angry breath.

Yuffie bit her lip when she realized that he was mad. If his posture hadn't been an indication—his shoulders stiff—then the way he was throwing small pieces of wood into the fire was more obvious. A feeling of guilt invaded her chest and she stared down at the oversized sleeves of Reeve's coat. He had saved her life, dragged her out of the ocean and into… Yuffie finally took the moment to look around the cave they were in and observe it with more detail.

Though it wasn't large and she realized that if Reeve stood he would more than likely smack his head on the rocky ceiling. The cave extended a little deeper, but she could see the where it ended. There really wasn't anywhere to go. To the other side of the cave was the opening that lead back towards the ocean. Yuffie gave a quick prayer to Leviathan so that the storm would break soon, since they had been stuck inside the cave for hours now and her stomach was grumbling noisily.

"How long do you think we've been in here?" she finally asked, breaking the tense silence.

Reeve shook his head. "I think we slept for about six to eight hours, add to that the hour it took for us to get in here and then remove our sodden clothing. I can't be too sure. My phone and watch stopped working because of the water damage," he said, frowning. It would've taken them about three hours by helicopter to get from Edge to Wutai, add to that the estimate of nine hours, the sun would be rising in about two hours. He finally turned to Yuffie when he realized that she had been staring at him. "We'll get out of here, don't worry."

Yuffie finally managed a smiled and nodded. "I know we will," she murmured. "Reeve?" she asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for saving my life. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. I was just… a little freaked, but you know how I overreact about everything," she said with a nervous laugh.

Reeve let some tension ease from his shoulders and nodded. "Of course. I'd give my life for any of my friends," he said with a small grin. "I just hope that the storm breaks before we starve to death."

Yuffie sighed and nodded, hearing her stomach grumble once more. Taking pity on her, he motioned towards his coat. "There should be some type of cereal bar in one of the many inside pockets," he said to Yuffie.

She blinked at him for a few seconds and then began to pat down the coat, her eyes widening when she finally figured out how many pockets the coat actually had on the inside. "Geez, Reeve, I'm surprised that you don't have a pocket for your laptop or for Cait!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Not for lack of trying. They just weighed me down too much," Reeve said offhandedly. "I'll just have to find a way to make miniature versions of both."

Yuffie began to laugh and finally found a cereal bar. She opened it and realized that there was no way to ration it to leave some for later, but she did break it in half and handed it over to Reeve. "Take it!" she snapped when he began to protest.

Reeve glared at her and then took the half of the cereal bar she had been holding. He bit into it and ate it slowly, trying to prolong the food for as long as he could. He was praying to anyone who listened that they get out of there quickly. He didn't care much for himself, but he didn't want Yuffie to get hurt. It had been his damned fault for not bothering to take a boat or having one of Cid's ships take them to Wutai. Instead he had badgered Yuffie into confronting her fear of flying little by little.

Yuffie was still watching his expressions as he grimaced to himself and then scowled angrily. She wondered what he was thinking, but for once she kept the questions to herself. It wasn't her damned business and besides, she didn't want to fight with him when they were stuck with nowhere to go. She hesitated before asking him the question that had been plaguing her mind for many days now. "How was your date with Elena?" she asked softly, not looking at him.

Reeve looked up at her in surprise and found that she wouldn't meet his gaze. "I didn't know that you were aware of that," he said quietly.

"Please… Reeve do you know that the secretaries of every floor have some sort of system in which they _all _know what's going on and when?" Yuffie asked with a smirk.

"How do _you_ happen to know then?" asked Reeve curiously, moving over to sit next to her, his back pressed against the rock wall.

"All the secretaries love me and they give me the juicy details for free, oh, and because I let them have all that really sweet candy my old man always sends me. I stopped liking that candy since I was about five and I ate it for three straight days," she said with a grin when Reeve looked at her in surprise.

"Dad was so mad when I got sick. As punishment he keeps sending it to me so that I can never forget that moment in my life. Trust me, throwing up pink globs for an entire day is not pleasant," she said with a snicker.

Reeve made a face but he couldn't help the way his eyes trailed over her features like an invisible caress. There was something about the slant of her eyes that had always appealed to him. Yuffie had very expressive and pretty eyes and he had always been attracted to a woman's eyes. Yuffie began to fidget and Reeve realized that he had been staring at her unabashedly. "What about you and Vincent?" he countered, clearing his throat and looking away from her quickly.

Yuffie let out a rather loud snort that echoed in the small space. "Vince and I would never get passed anything physical," she said with a shrug.

He didn't know how to react to her statement, but he couldn't deny that there had been a twinge of annoyance and disappointment in his chest. Had they already been… intimate? "And have you?" he asked dryly.

Yuffie didn't know how to interpret his tone but she shook her head. "Nothing past heavy kissing and petting. But you know, sometimes opposites _don't _attract. We're just really good friends now." Her eyes narrowed when she realized that he had managed to deflect her question and she had spilled her own beans. "Reeve," she said slowly.

He shrugged. "Elena and I have been skirting around the attraction, but I could see that she is still in love with Tseng no matter what she claims," Reeve said, laying his head back against the stone wall. "Must be a curse that I have to set my eyes on impossibles," he muttered.

Yuffie was curious to ask him what he meant, but she shook her head instead. She didn't know when her attraction towards him had started, but she knew that it had something to do with mild-mannered Reeve giving her orders. A bit kinky, yes, but it couldn't be helped. Still, it was too much to dream of and she knew that Reeve was on the look out for someone who was mature and was firmly grounded on Gaia. She was like a bird, or a spirit. She had no true home because she preferred to roam around. That was what had appealed to her about working as a spy for the WRO. It meant constant traveling and a sense of total freedom. She enjoyed being constantly in motion. It was why her father had given her free reign to do what she wanted with her life. He couldn't hold her down, and he hadn't really tried.

She shifted and crawled over to lay down by the fire, making sure that her legs were covered and that she wasn't flashing anything indecently. "Reeve?" she asked softly.

He looked over at her, his gaze curious. "Yes, Yuffie?"

"Will you tell me about your childhood?"

Reeve's face broke into a fond smile and he nodded, moving over to lay down on the opposite side of the fire. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything," she said with a smile, turning her head to look at him.

The smile that he sent her way made her stomach flip-flop and she let out a small, shaky breath. She hoped that they left soon because she didn't know how long she'd be able to hide how she felt for him.

……

She hadn't even been aware that she had fallen asleep, but she had listened for a long time to Reeve talk about his childhood and how much he had loved his mother's homemade oatmeal cookies, how many science fairs he had won, and how he would sleep under the tree waiting for the jolly red man to bring him some presents every December. She'd been happy that he had at least had a happy childhood, even though he had lost so much once he had started working for ShinRa.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a gentle finger smooth over her cheek. Her eyes slowly opened and blinked wide when she realized just how close Reeve was leaning over her. "What are you doing?" she whispered, her eyes darting to his lips.

Reeve didn't know _what_ he was doing. He had been in the middle of telling her about his high school years when he had realized that she had fallen asleep. He had wanted to feel offended that he had bored her to sleep, but at the almost angelic look on her face his words had frozen completely in his throat. Staring at her now, he didn't know what to say, though he hadn't missed the way her eyes had moved to his lips.

"I was… trying to figure out if you were truly asleep," he said uncomfortably, moving away and back towards the spot he had been occupying before she had taken her nap.

Yuffie sat up and rubbed the crick in her neck, frowning at the ache she felt there. "Sorry. I didn't mean to doze off, but you've got a very peaceful tone," she muttered.

Reeve nodded and stood, making sure to stoop a little so that he wouldn't smack his head painfully on the low ceiling. "I think that the storm has passed, judging by the waves in here," he said, pointing towards the water.

Yuffie looked over and noticed that he was right. If there was one thing she truly knew about, it was the ocean and its waves. Not to mention storms. She'd read so many books on Leviathan and how he affected the weather, that it was a basic requirement for everyone born in Wutai. She felt that a part of the blame for the accident was on her because she had seen the storm forming in the distance as they flew. She'd kept it to herself and had trusted that they would arrive before the storm hit them. Boy, had she been wrong.

"I should go out to see if the storm has truly broken," Reeve interrupted her thoughts.

Yuffie stood and tried to ignore the fact that she was very safe from hurting her head on the ceiling. It paid to be short sometimes. "Are you sure you'll be able to hold your breath?"

Reeve nodded. "I did do it the last time," he murmured, looking down at the water and debating on whether to keep his clothes on. He shrugged to himself. Might as well, he'd have to wear them anyway once it was time to leave. "Don't worry about me, Yuffie. I'll be back as soon as I can. If I'm not, that means that the current carried me away," he said, trying to joke.

Yuffie tried to smile, but the thought of never seeing Reeve again didn't sit well in her stomach. "Don't say that," she said quietly.

He turned to look at her and noticed the frown on her face. He felt his heart begin to beat a little faster at the look of worry on her face. "Why not?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she shrugged, a smug smirk on her lips. "Because then I'd have to jump in after you to save your ass," she said cheekily.

Reeve chuckled and nodded. "Give me ten minutes. I promise I will return to tell you what I find."

Yuffie nodded and walked up to him as he prepared to move towards the water. Before he could react, Yuffie pressed a kiss to his cheek. "For luck," she said quietly.

He stared after her in a daze and smiled, touching his cheek where her lips had touched as she stood with her back to him. There was something very satisfying about seeing her wearing his coat, but it seemed foolish, since nothing was happening between himself and Yuffie. Sighing to himself, Reeve pulled off his shoes and socks before walking into the water and then diving under so that he could swim out through the opening.

Yuffie watched him go in silence and took the moment to reluctantly pull off Reeve's coat so that she could redress in her own rumpled clothing. Once she was done, she sat back and smoothed her hands over Reeve's coat. It was a shame it didn't smell like Reeve anymore, and all that was left was the salty smell of the sea. She smiled to herself when she remembered the feel of his stubbly cheek against her lips.

She couldn't think of what had prompted her to actually take a step of that magnitude. A part of her wanted for Reeve to notice her as a woman—because she was a _woman_, despite what Cid and Barret liked to yell whenever she mentioned dating—but at the same time, she was terrified of what Reeve to see. She could picture it now… _"I'm sorry Yuffie, despite the fact that you are the _best _ninja I know, I see you like a daughter."_

"Eek!" Yuffie slapped a hand over her eyes. She'd do some serious nerd ass-kicking if that _ever_ happened. Reeve saying he looked at her like a daughter would cause her brain to spontaneously combust. She was a woman, dammit! Yuffie pounded her fist into her open hand unconsciously and then shook her head. She was getting worked up over nothing. With a sigh, she sat back and waited for Reeve to return. She couldn't wait to get out of the cave and onto solid land.

…

Reeve broke the surface of the ocean outside and gasped for breath for a few moments. Then he looked up and realized that even though the storm had receded, it looked like another one was on the way. In the distance though, he could see that Wutai wasn't so far away from them. Still, they couldn't risk swimming all the way just to get caught in another storm. He wouldn't risk Yuffie's life again.

Turning to look towards the expanse of the sea in the direction they had been traveling from, a smile slid onto his face when he noticed that there was a ship in the distance, coming towards them, and it looked very much like _The Shera. _He knew that they could count on their friends to jump into action as soon as humanly possible. Taking a deep breath, he dived back into the water and began to swim downwards, towards where he remembered the cave being.

He hadn't even had time to look at the surroundings, since they'd been fighting for their lives, but now that he took a good look, he realized that they were surrounded by various sized reefs. It was a miracle that neither he nor Yuffie had gotten caught in any of them. He broke the surface inside of the cave and cleared his eyes as Yuffie jumped to her feet and raced towards the edge of the water.

"What's going on?" she asked quickly.

"_The Shera_ is out there, but we must move now. I think that another storm is coming and we have to be out there for them to find us," Reeve said, gathering his coat and quickly pulling it on.

Yuffie nodded and sat down to put on her boots, thankful that they weren't the lace-ons she had taken to wearing back when she had been eighteen. She stood and walked towards the water where Reeve was standing. He put out the fire with some water and without a backwards glance he moved back towards Yuffie. She was looking at him thoughtfully and Reeve gave her a questioning look.

"It's been a really… weird experience," Yuffie said with a grin.

Reeve chuckled and nodded. "I must say that I agree with you."

"You better not tell anyone that you saw me in my underwear."

They both blushed at her words, but Reeve nodded once more. "As long as you return the materia that I was carrying with me."

Yuffie smirked. "Shouldn't have left them within my reach, my dear Reeve."

His heart did a funny skip at the words 'my dear' paired with his name. He realized that they had been stuck together for hours and he hadn't even gotten a chance to tell her how he felt about her. He didn't love her yet, but Yuffie was the type of woman who just inspired a feeling that closely resembled it. He looked at her and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Despite our circumstances… I… enjoyed this time we spent together," he admitted, full of hesitancy.

Yuffie looked up and stared into his eyes. There was such a look of honesty in them, she was rendered speechless for once. "Even though you did all the talking?" she asked with a smile.

"I think that's a first," he said with a wry grin.

She let out a giggle and nodded. "I think I must be wearing off on you."

Reeve chuckled and nodded, releasing her fingers reluctantly. "We should go. The last thing we need is for them to go. The next storm is on the way."

Yuffie nodded and sunk into the cool water, turning to look at Reeve one last time before she was completely submerged. Reeve followed her and began to swim, working his arms and legs as quickly as he could. Yuffie swam quickly and just as her lungs began to burn, she broke the surface, gasping for breath and kicking to stay afloat. She looked around wildly and found that _The Shera _was a few hundred feet away.

"Hey!" she yelled, trying to wave her arms and only sinking further into the water. She tried again and then let out a whoop when she saw the ship stop and hover over one spot, indicating that they had seen her. "We're getting out of here Reeve!" she crowed happily. When she received no response, Yuffie turned in a circle and realized that Reeve hadn't broken the surface with her.

Taking a deep breath after waiting for a moment and feeling the panic begin to set in, she plunged back into the water and swam as quickly as she could, keeping her eyes open. She nearly screamed and released the little bit of oxygen she had left when she saw that he was slowly sinking towards the bottom of the ocean. She was thankful that it wasn't too deep to save him, but she swam as quickly as she could. She swam towards him and pulled, shaking him a little. His eyes were a little unfocused and he was running out of oxygen.

Without really thinking, she slammed her mouth against his and gave him the little oxygen she had left too. She didn't even stop to think how his eyes became a little more lucid, but she pulled with all her might and kicked to get them both to the surface. It felt like eternity when they finally rose, and her lungs were burning painfully. They both hit the surface and gasped loudly for breath, coughing and gagging.

"What the hell happened?!" Yuffie screamed at him when she had finally regained a little breath.

"I thought I had seen…" he coughed. "…something moving in the water. I tried to move back and hit my head on the opening of the cave," Reeve gasped out, moving his hand to the touch the back of his skull.

Yuffie's heart dropped to her feet when it came back with watery red. "Dear Leviathan, are you alright?" she asked worriedly, planting her hands on his face and staring into his eyes to check if he didn't have a concussion.

Reeve stared right at her lucidly and smiled. "I'm much more awake now, since you gave me mouth to mouth and all," he said.

Yuffie blinked at him, her hair matted to her face, eyes big on her face. She made such an alluring picture, Reeve couldn't help but stare right into her eyes. Their staring was interrupted when _The Shera_ stopped right above them and the propellers began to disturb the water around them even more.

A rope ladder was thrown down and with it came Cloud, Tifa waiting to help from above. The blond climbed down quickly and smiled briefly in greeting. "We thought you were dead!" he called over the noise.

"Nope, still kicking!" Yuffie called back.

Cloud reached for her, but she shook her head. "Take Reeve. He hit his head on some rocks and I think he has brain damage!" she said with a grin.

Reeve glared at her mildly, but didn't argue. His head was hurting quite a lot at the moment. Still, he worried about Yuffie. "Yuffie!" he called.

"I'm right behind you!" she replied as she took a hold of the ladder and began to climb after them. She had never been so relieved to be on board Cid's ship and she didn't bother to whine when Tifa pulled her into a bear hug.

"You gave us a scare, you idiot brat!" yelled Cid.

"I wasn't the one driving the chopper, old man!" she yelled right back.

Cid couldn't hide the relief he felt now that he knew that both she and Tuesti were fine. Tifa helped her to sit down and smiled in relief. "We got the signal last night, but the storm was raging and there wasn't anything we could do. We're just so glad that we found you both in one piece!"

"Me too. Thanks for coming you guys," she said happily, hugging Red when he approached her.

"Barret stayed at home with the kids, but he wanted to come," Cloud said as he noticed her searching for their friend.

"And Vincent was searching by boat, though he took a different direction," Tifa said with a smile.

Yuffie nodded and let out a long breath. She was so relieved that she didn't even care to express her normal feelings of flying, even when her stomach was grumbling in protest. "I'm glad we're here with you now. How's Reeve?" she asked Cloud.

"Getting checked on by a WRO medic. He should be fine," he said.

Yuffie stood with Tifa and smiled when she let go. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to check on the bossman," she said, stumbling towards the doors. She turned back to them and smiled. "Thanks for being great friends," she said with a grin. Tifa just smiled back, while Cloud just smirked, and Cid grunted. Red just inclined his head once.

Stepping into the room Reeve had been placed in, Yuffie smiled when he turned to look at her lucidly. "I should be fine," he assured her.

Yuffie nodded and walked over to sit on the edge of his bed. "It's good to know. Though I have to confess that I lost your heal materia when I dove back to get you," she said with a sad look.

He shook his head against his pillow. "Don't even worry about that. We're fine now, and that's all that matters." His expression turned grim and he sighed. "Remind me to never put your life in danger like that again."

Yuffie bit her lip and reached out to touch his cheek. "The storm happening wasn't your fault."

"But we could've taken a faster, alternate form of transportation," Reeve argued.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she exasperated.

Reeve sighed heavily and nodded. "I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to you," he admitted softly.

Yuffie stared into his eyes. "Same here," she said just as quietly.

His hand reached up to touch her cheek with his knuckles, but it fell away too quickly.

She began to gather her courage to do something that would either break their friendship, or manage to jumpstart something completely new and life altering. Pushing her damp hair out of her eyes, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his in a light caress. When she drew back, he was staring at her with a look she had seen in his eyes before.

"What was that one for?" Reeve asked with a shaky smile, unable to believe what she had just done. Yuffie… felt the same way he did?

Her eyes were narrowing slightly, even as she smiled. "An exchange for you taking me to dinner once you're on your feet," Yuffie replied, her cheeks going pink.

Reeve let out a long breath and nodded. "We should get stuck in places more often, Yuffie."

Yuffie winked and nodded. "That we should."

Reeve's hand touched hers. "You're sure you want to start something new and completely extraordinary?"

"Never been more sure in my life," Yuffie said, her eyes bright in her beautiful face.

He loved her eyes even more now. "Okay."

"Okay," Yuffie repeated before she was gone.

Reeve leaned back against the pillow and smiled to himself. He never knew he'd be thankful for being cramped inside a small place with Yuffie. It had earned him two kisses and one that he didn't count as a kiss because it had saved his life. His day was shaping up to be a good one, despite the near death experiences. But with Yuffie in his life, he knew that there would more of those to come.

Reeve didn't mind though. He was more than ready for them.

…

…

…

Not so bad, I think. Though it was light on the romance, I liked it myself. I hope everyone did too!

Joey


End file.
